LTG Reality 3/2010

Symphoneo

Hmmmm.... Prayer. It’s one of the things that is required of us as Christ-followers but I find that it is also one of the most under-practiced and under-taught disciplines of the church. If God has called His church to be a House of Prayer then it would seem that we as believers should all be involved in that prayer but, sadly, most believers fall asleep at the mere mention of a prayer meeting. I think that we, pastors and leaders, have dropped the ball. Most prayer meetings are boring if we are honest about it. So..... The question is how do we change that? I have started teaching the practice of prayer from the Hebrew perspective.(you’ll have to attend to hear more about that) I think we, the western church, have forgotten that what brings the presence of God into our lives are the audible prayers of His people. Notice I said audible. I was reading an article about Dr. Cho’s church in Seoul, South Korea where their corporate prayer was described like this: “Their praying is so powerful it sounds like a giant waterfall. One cannot be in the sanctuary when people are praying and not be moved”. That’s what I’m talking about..... Matthew 18:19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” Agree in Greek is symphoneo..... Our prayers should be a symphony to God. All of us play different notes but the same score. We have just come to the place in the the American church where the norm is praying under our breath but the biblical norm was praying audibly. Is it just a cultural deal? I’m not sure but, just being honest, if praying out loud is going to release God’s power more effectively then I’m all about it. What is an Acts 4 meeting? Acts 4:31 “The place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke the Word of God boldly.” Remember, prayer changes the course of History! One of my Mentors, Eddie Turner, has always told me that “you pray it through in the spiritual before it is manifest in the physical”. That’s Cool! Some come on..... Let “Pray it Through” together!

Protecting Your Pastor...

I read this the other day and thought it would be a good read for people who don't realize what pastors face... this is a real letter sent to Clayton and is a great reminder to us all. Click on the link below to read it...

Unleash Letter

Steering through Chaos

Hey Everybody! If you are in ministry you MUST read this book! Steering through Chaos by Pastor Scott Wilson. For the next few days I'm going to share some thoughts about the book that hit me hard. This is a practical field manual for maneuvering through seemingly impossible situations. Steering through Chaos will allow you to be mentored, not by a theorist, but by a practitioner who writes about what he has done in the real world. My copy is marked up with highlighter, underlines and my notes throughout. SO GO NOW! PICK IT UP! You will not be disappointed!

DIG!

Have you ever faced something that seemed... impossible?  I can't tell you how many times I have just wanted to quit... to give up and do something easier with my life.... there were times that I thought it would be easier just to go back to my old way of living instead of just digging the useless holes that i seem to be always digging.  But the secret to success is tenacity...  if we stop digging when we're discouraged we never find the water at the bottom of the well.
When I became pastor of LTG I was incredibly excited!  Full of ideas and ways to make the church grow and to impact the world through our community of believers.  Although the majority of people at the time liked the idea there were those who liked everything just the way it was.    I realized that there would be  a cost to digging new wells.  But the hurts that came with the process and the discouragement that inevitably shows up are really not big prices to pay when you finally hit water and there is enough for everybody.  Remember..... when you're discouraged, your purpose in God seems impossible to find..... when your hurt, it seems easier to just quit..... when your tired and burned out, it seems like giving up is just practical... STOP!  Never quit digging!  Never stop seeing the goal in your mind.....  Failure is not running in to setbacks,  failure is allowing a setback to stop you from attempting something great.